


Stranded

by LittleTaliMagpie



Series: DaiKen Week 2020 [4]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Digimon Swap, Getting Lost, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24633688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTaliMagpie/pseuds/LittleTaliMagpie
Summary: Ken and Daisuke pick a fight they weren't prepared for and end up separated.Not helping Ken's anxiety is that he's somehow ended up with his boyfriend's Digimon partner instead of his own.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Motomiya Daisuke | Davis Motomiya
Series: DaiKen Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776589
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28
Collections: Daiken Discord Server, Daiken Week 2020





	Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> DaiKen Week Day 4: Digimon Swap
> 
> This one is the longest one so far, I believe. :D
> 
> There's some cursing so T rating lmao There's also a teeeeny tiny bit of suggestiveness 
> 
> Enjoy~ <3

“ _ HEAT WAVE!!! _ ”

Paildramon cried out as they were struck in the side, the enemy HippoGryphomon catching them off-guard. Ken and Daisuke clung desperately to their partner’s shoulder pads. Ken’s mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out a strategy, while Daisuke continued shouting encouragement. Imperialdramon would make this fight so much easier but Paildramon was already exhausted, the battle having dragged on far longer than anyone had anticipated. Why hadn’t they just started with their Ultimate in the first pla-

Another hit sent Paildramon careening to the side, Ken not being able to react fast enough to grab hold. He slipped from Paildramon’s shoulder, mind going blank at the odd weightlessness he felt. His ears were ringing and the world seemed distant. 

“KEN!!!!” Daisuke screamed, bringing him back to the present. The calm fled and Ken felt pure terror as he watched his partners grow smaller. Against his better instincts, he looked down to see the ocean and prayed he hadn’t been high enough to be killed on impact. Tears blurred his vision and he squeezed his eyes shut, covering his face.

Suddenly, something wrapped around his torso and halted his descent. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see Paildramon. “Ken- _ chan _ !” They cried. “Are you okay?!” Before he could respond, Daisuke was there, gripping Ken’s arm and kneeling beside him in Paildramon’s palms. He looked unnaturally pale.

“Ken? You still with us?” His voice shook and Ken could feel his intense fear, his racing heart.

“...Yeah,” he murmured. “Just still in shock, I think.” With a relieved sigh, Daisuke pulled him into a crushing hug, his arms tight and a hand buried in Ken’s hair. Ken’s eyes slid shut and he sighed, clinging to him.

“ _ HEAT WAVE!!! _ ” Eyes flying open, they barely had time to pull apart before Paildramon was screaming in pain. To their horror, they were enveloped in a bright white light and then the hands beneath them disappeared, their digimons’ Baby forms taking Paildramon’s place. And once again, Ken was falling. He reached for Daisuke, flailing in the air as the water rushed towards them.

Their fingers grazed, they hit the water, then nothing.

\----------------

“Ken? Hey, Ken? Are you okay?” Who was calling him? “Ken? Wake up!” Groaning, Ken opened his eyes. The world took a moment to focus, the sky a shock of reds and pinks and oranges, soft sand shifting beneath his twitching fingers and palm trees rustling in the wind. With a groan, Ken pushed himself up, sitting back on his haunches. He blinked down at his sand-covered palms and languidly started brushing the grains away. A loud cheer startled him and he remembered someone had been calling him. He turned to Minomon with a smile-

Except that wasn’t Minomon.

Ken froze, eyes widening in surprise. “Chibimon??” He whispered. Shaking himself, he whipped around and scanned the beach, praying his instincts were wrong. “Where’s Daisuke?”

“I dunno, he’s not here though!” The little blue digimon chirped, bouncing around Ken and giggling away. They didn’t seem to notice Ken’s despairing. “Now that you’re awake, we can start looking for him! Let’s go!”

“Whoa, hold on!” Ken gasped, scooping them up before they could bound away. Chibimon whined and squirmed but Ken held fast. “We have no clue where he is. We don’t even know where  _ we _ are. It’s getting dark and it could be dangerous to wander around at night. We should find somewhere to camp and rest until morning and then we can go and search for Daisuke.”

Chibimon grumbled. “That makes sense… but I’m worried about Daisuke and Minomon. I don’t wanna wait and then they end up hurt because of it.” Ken smiled fondly; Chibimon and Daisuke were so alike.

“I know. I am, too. But it wouldn’t do for us to get hurt looking for them. Daisuke would be so upset if I let anything happen to you, so I’m not going to let it.”

“Hmmm… Yeah, I get it. He’d be super sad if you got hurt, too, and there’s not much I can do to protect you like this.” Beaming, he patted Ken’s hands. “Then, let’s find somewhere to sleep!”

As it turned out, the two weren’t far from a large cave. Ken wasn’t sure if it was safe - what if it flooded at high tide? - but Chibimon was already starting to doze off and the low light level was making traversing the terrain difficult enough already. With a sigh, he picked his way carefully deeper into the cave, squinting against the darkness. The rocky ground wasn’t slippery, which was a good sign, and he eventually found a secluded place to hunker down. Actually getting some sleep was proving difficult though, what with his anxiety providing many, many images and thoughts of Daisuke in danger or pain. Combined with the uncomfortable ground and the chill of both the wind and his damp clothing, sleeping seemed near impossible.

He was staring at the cave entrance, eyes itching, when he saw a silhouette. At first, he stiffened and gripped Chibimon defensively. Then, he realised the shadow was human. Slowly, he sat up and stared in disbelief. It couldn’t be…

“Daisuke?” he breathed.

The shadow turned towards him and Ken was slammed by a sense of wrongness. Was that really him? The figure approached and he shrank back further into the cave, behind a large rock. The figure paused.

“Come now, Child of Kindness. You needn’t be afraid of me.” Its voice was soft, like a hiss, and all of the hairs on Ken’s arms stood up. Who could it be?  _ What _ could it be? He clutched Chibimon closer, absently noting that they were still, somehow, fast asleep. “Don’t you want to find your friend? And your partner? I can show you where they are.” 

Ken was shaking in fear, paralysed as the figure drew ever closer. He held his breath, praying the…  _ thing _ couldn’t see in the dark. It stopped right in front of his rock, chortling darkly, and the sound of waves grew louder.

“You don’t want to see them? To see what I did to your friend? I laid him out all nice and pretty for you, too...” It leaned closer and Ken could see its wicked grin, teeth shining bright in the darkness, the sound of the tide almost deafening. Then, it whispered, “Just so you’re aware, he died calling your name.”

Ken awoke with a scream, startling Chibimon. He sat bolt upright, head spinning, chest heaving, and swivelled wildly towards the cave entrance. Nothing was there, the sky a soft pink as the sun began to rise. Ken gripped his hair and squeezed his eyes shut, curling up with a sharp sob.  _ What a terrible nightmare… _ What if it were true, though? What if something had got to Daisuke and Minomon, had hurt them? What if they were-

“Hey, Ken? What happened?” A small voice pulled him from his spiralling thoughts and he scrubbed his face, sniffling. He turned to give Chibimon a shaky smile.

“Just a bad dream, don’t worry.” He reassured them. They didn’t seem any less worried.

“Musta been pretty intense, you were shaking and whimpering and thrashing about!” They cried, demonstrating with their tiny little arms. Swallowing, he picked up the small digimon and held him close.

“It was… about Daisuke. He… he was hurt by something, really badly.” He clung tighter, eyes prickling. “What if you were right? What if he got hurt because we didn’t look for him? I’m such an idiot, we should’ve-!”

“That’s not true!” Chibimon barked. “You made total sense and I know Daisuke woulda said the same if he was here instead of me. Besides, now that the sun is rising, we can go looking for them. I bet he’ll be just fine!” They squirmed a little, so Ken pulled back enough to look down at them. Chibimon put their little paw on Ken’s cheek. “C’mon, let’s go find him and Minomon! Then you’ll see that they’re okay!”

Ken sniffed and pulled Chibimon close again, hugging him tightly. “Thanks, Chibimon. You’re right, I shouldn’t panic. It was just a nightmare.” Pushing the memories away with a determined nod, Ken stood and headed for the cave entrance. And then paused.

‘ _ How do we find them? _ ’

He thought of the D-3 and its tracking capabilities, but they were rather limited. He pulled out his D-Terminal and tutted when he realised it didn’t have any battery. “Just my luck,” he grumbled, “How do I contact him now…?”

“Ken?” Blinking, he looked down at Chibimon, who was watching him curiously. “What’s up?”

“Just trying to figure out how to track Daisuke down. The tracking range on our D-3s isn’t that great and my D-Terminal is dead…”

“Don’t you guys, like, feel each other’s hearts or something? Maybe you can use that.” They suggested. 

Ken hummed. “Well, it couldn’t hurt to try.” Stepping out of the cave, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightening sky and then glanced around. The tide was out but not far - must’ve been coming in. Ken swallowed and turned away from the water, closing his eyes and breathing deep. Tentatively, he reached out, tracing the bond between his and Daisuke’s hearts. 

It took a few minutes but eventually, Ken became aware of another pulse within his chest, one that quickened suddenly. Ken wondered if Daisuke could feel their connection strengthening and smiled. His feet moved on their own, following the tug of Daisuke’s heart. A thrill of excitement ran through him - Daisuke had definitely realised now. Ken couldn’t help but grip his shirt above his heart, smile widening and anxiety fading.

He picked his way through the dunes, pausing at the top to catch his breath and survey the land beyond. Mostly, there was only thick forest as far as the eye could see and the thought of searching through it was a little daunting. As he thought that, he felt a warmth in his chest, the other heartbeat slowing to a calm rhythm. Was Daisuke reassuring him? He couldn’t help but laugh; even when they were both lost, Daisuke was always looking out for him.

He carefully made his way down the dunes, doing his best not to stumble and jostle Chibimon. Once at the bottom, he took a deep breath and started into the forest, letting their connection guide him. He wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been walking, the thick tree canopy above obscuring much of the sky and sunlight, when he came across a wide river. The connection was leading him to cross it, stronger than before.  _ He’s close _ . 

Ken crouched down and examined the banks, trying to gauge how deep it was. It seemed rather shallow, but he couldn’t be sure how far down the bed was at its deepest. At the very least, it seemed to be a relatively slow-flowing river so he probably wouldn’t be swept away if he slipped or stumbled. In which case, he’d be more worried about the little digimon in his arms. He tossed a stone towards the center, counting how long it took to hit the bottom. It wasn’t too long…

“Hey, Chibimon?” They made a curious noise. “Do me a favour and help me find a really sturdy stick. As straight as possible.”

“We’re gonna cross?” They asked.

Ken nodded. “Daisuke feels close. This river is probably all that’s separating us. I need a long, strong stick that I can use to test the water’s depth.”

Chibimon hummed thoughtfully. “If it’ll get us over to Daisuke, sure!” They cheered, hopping out of his arms and scrambling through the brush. Ken chuckled softly, turning back to the river and dipping his fingers into the chill water. Despite his previous misgivings, Chibimon was pretty easy to work with. He was loud and energetic but not unlike his partner Chosen. His gaze wandered as he waited. The foliage was thinner here, sunlight dappled over the water’s surface and reflected back up, sparkling.  _ What a beautiful place… _

“Ken!” With a jolt, Ken jerked his head up and stared across the river, eyes searching.  _ He’s here, he’s here! _ At that moment, Daisuke burst through the treeline with Minomon hanging from his arm, stumbling to a stop at the edge of the bank, and Ken’s heart soared.

“Ken- _ chan _ !”

“Daisuke! Minomon!” He called back, a sharp pang of relief ringing through him.

“Where’s Chibi?” Daisuke asked.

“Looking for a branch.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Daisuke!” There they were. Chibimon raced back through the underbrush as fast as they could with that very impressive branch in their tiny arms. “We’re gonna use it to cross the river!”

“Wow, that’s a great stick!” Ken praised, Chibimon preening in response. Taking it, he lifted Chibimon and placed them on his shoulder. “Hold on tight, okay?”

“Right!”

Ken rolled his trouser legs up to his knees and took off his socks and shoes. Then he stepped into the river, sucking in a sharp breath at the cold. Daisuke shouted to him to be careful, Ken humming in response. He had to concentrate, using the stick to plot a safe route. Tongue between his teeth, he inched his way across. He could feel Daisuke’s impatience, could imagine him bouncing up and down on the balls on his feet, and smiled to himself.  _ Almost there _ .

Finally close enough, Daisuke reached out and grabbed his arms, helping him out of the cold river water and pulling him into a tight hug. Ken gripped the back of his flame jacket and buried his face into the fluffy collar, eyes sliding closed as he took a deep breath.  _ Finally _ … He didn’t want to let go, wanted to stay in Daisuke’s embrace for as long as possible.

“Daisuke!” Chibimon’s cry cut the moment short, far too short for Ken’s liking, and the Baby digimon launched themselves at Daisuke, who barely reacted in time to catch them. They both laughed and cheered and, even though he was disappointed about the premature ending of their hug, Ken felt a fond smile pulling at the corners of his lips. A gentle tugging on his arm caught his attention.

“Minomon!” Ken gasped, quickly bundling them into his arms. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay! Were you and Daisuke able to get along?”

“Yes! It was a little tough to begin with because I was so worried about you, but Daisuke- _ san _ promised me you’d be fine. He’s a lot like Chibimon.”

Ken laughed softly. “I thought the same. I had a bit of a tough time but Chibimon was there for me. I’m glad I wasn’t alone.”

“Did something happen, though? Daisuke- _ san _ woke up suddenly and seemed really, really worried earlier.” Minomon swung a little from Ken’s arm. He was about to answer when he felt a spark of curiosity and looked at his Jogress partner. 

Daisuke’s eyes widened, clearly not having expected to be caught staring, but he recovered quickly. “I wanna know what happened, too. It felt super intense, that fear. I thought… something bad had happened.”

Ken bit his lip. He didn’t really want to relive the nightmare he’d had, but Daisuke seemed so concerned. Him worrying hurt even more. Ken tugged on his bangs, taking a slow breath in.

“I had a really bad nightmare. It was weird because I didn’t even know I’d fallen asleep… But someone - some _ thing _ \- appeared at the mouth of the cave we were sleeping in. At first, I thought maybe you’d found us somehow and I called your name.”

“But it wasn’t me.”

Ken shook his head. “I’m not sure who or what it was. It was just a shadow. But it was really creepy, said it’d take me to see you. I-I didn’t answer so i-it said… that it h-had-” He growled in frustration. Why was this so hard to talk about? Why was he stuttering? Why was he shaking so badly??

Daisuke wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay. Take your time.” Swallowing, Ken leaned into him and Daisuke wound his other arm around him, too. Ken squeezed his eyes shut.

“It said it had k-killed you,” he whispered, voice trembling. “That you d-died calling m-my name…” Daisuke’s arms tightened around him and he pressed a kiss into Ken’s hair. Ken tried to say more but all that came out of his mouth was a choked sob. He buried his face into Daisuke’s shoulder, gripping the front of his jacket, and he cried. Daisuke gently stroked his hair, whispering soft reassurances and pressing more kisses to his temple and hair.

After some time, Ken’s tears dried up and his distress was replaced by faint embarrassment.  _ It was just a nightmare, no need to get so worked up over it… _ Daisuke squeezed him gently and Ken blinked at him.

“I’m sorry.” he murmured.

“Huh? But… why?” Ken was thrown for a loop.

“This all happened because I kept saying Paildramon was enough to handle that fight. I was so sure. But honestly, as soon as the fight began, my gut told me I’d made a mistake and that we should evolve to Imperialdramon. I was too stubborn and we ended up getting separated.” His breath shook and he closed his eyes. “I could barely sleep last night because every time I closed my eyes, I would see that image of you falling, over and over, and it was my fault.” He hung his head. “I’m sorry. I’ll listen to you for sure, next time.”

“Oh, Dai. I understand. I think we both could do with being a little more open in future.” Daisuke’s hair was soft between Ken’s fingers. Daisuke sighed and leaned into the touch.

“For sure.” He yawned widely, jaw cracking. Ken giggled.

“I think we should head home. I’m sure our families and friends are worried.” he said. Slipping his socks and shoes back on, he accepted Daisuke’s hand and they started back towards the beach, following the river. Daisuke swung their laced hands between them and Ken smiled. It wasn’t often they got to be openly affectionate so he enjoyed the moment while he could. 

Eventually though, he had to speak up. “By the way, do you have any battery on your D-Terminal?”

“Yeah, why? Yours dead?”

“Yep.” Ken sighed. “That’s why I didn’t message you. We should probably contact the other Chosen and let them know we’re okay.”

“Hmm, probably. When we get back to the beach.” He squeezed Ken’s hand and they shared a secret smile.

The walk back to the beach seemed to take a lot less time than before, though Ken could assume it was because they were following the river. When the trees started thinning, Daisuke stopped and pulled him into a deep, lingering kiss that left him breathless and craving more.

“Once we’re in the open, we gotta be more private again,” Daisuke murmured, fingers trailing Ken’s jaw and sending shivers down his spine. “I hate that we have to hide this…”

“Me too, but the world is slow and I don’t want to be made to feel bad for falling in love.” Ken leaned in, pressing a much more chaste kiss to Daisuke’s lips. “Until the world improves, this is all we can really do. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you...”

“Yeah… By the way, when do you think we can have our next sleepover?” He asked casually.

“Uh, let’s talk about that later.” Ken laughed awkwardly. As much as he loved Daisuke, discussing their ‘sleepovers’ in front of their digimon didn’t feel right. Daisuke smirked but thankfully dropped the subject. With one last kiss, they separated and stepped out of the treeline. The sound of waves washed over them and Ken shuddered, gripping his elbows.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be here long.” Daisuke assured him, already typing away on his D-Terminal. How he typed so fast, Ken wasn’t sure. Probably all those years playing games. Ken surveyed the area, keeping an eye out for threats. They never did take care of that HippoGryphomon…

Thankfully, they didn’t need to worry as the other Chosen appeared quickly, racing to meet them and make sure they were okay. They explained what had happened, a couple of the others being quick to blame Daisuke’s stubbornness which Ken was just as quick to shoot down. He was too tired and high-strung to deal with the other Chosens’ _attitudes_ towards Daisuke.

After finally making it to the nearest television, they all went back to their high school computer room. Not only had Daisuke and Ken been gone all night, they’d also missed several classes. It was now lunch break and Ken suddenly realised how hungry he was.

“I think we should head home and clean up, we’re bound to get in trouble if we show up to class like this.” Ken brushed his sleeve, frowning at the dirt that came off.

“If I go home, I’m gonna sleep.” Daisuke yawned.

“You’d probably sleep in class anyway so what’s the difference?” Takeru snickered, not noticing Daisuke’s glare.

“The difference is I only get a tardy instead of an absence.” Daisuke snarked. “Whatever, I’m too tired for class. I’ll probably just get sent home for violating uniform code anyway.”

“Yeah…” Ken murmured absently as he rolled the legs of his trousers back down. “How likely do you think it is that we’ll get out of here without a teacher spotting us?”

“Impossible.” The group all jolted and turned to find the IT teacher standing in the doorway, arms folded and expression unimpressed. “Why are you two not only extremely late, but in such a dirty state?”

Ken ducked his head and bit his lip, mind scrambling for excuses. What could he say here? Could they tell him about the Digital World? It was becoming relatively well-known throughout the world but this was just a high school.

Apparently, Daisuke decided faster. “We were involved in a Digimon battle.” he said. Ken guessed they were going with the truth, then. “We ended up in a sticky situation and weren’t able to come back home until just now.”

Their teacher raised an eyebrow. “A Digimon battle? Is that so?” At first, it didn’t seem like he believed them. Then, “Oh, I do recall being informed that we had Chosen Children attending our school. I take it that’s you lot?” They nodded. He sighed. “I’ll have to inform the principal and your parents of this. Come with me, we can’t let you stay in school like that.”

After explaining what had happened to the principal, and their parents once they’d arrived, Daisuke and Ken were sent home with a warning that they’d need to have a discussion the next day about using the school computers for Digital World related activities. Ken felt they’d got off pretty lightly with the school, though how their parents would respond still remained to be seen. 

\--------------------

Ken slumped into his desk chair and heaved a sigh, rubbing his eyes. His parents had had a long discussion about what had happened with him and ended with him being told to carry spare batteries on him at all times. All things considered, he knew he’d got off easy, which just made him worried about Daisuke. It was no secret to Ken that Daisuke’s family was harsh on him, bordering cruel. With his newly-powered D-Terminal, he shot Daisuke a quick ‘ _ call me when you can _ ’ and stood to get changed. He’d just pulled on a loose pair of pajama pants when his mobile phone rang.

“Hello?”

A heavy sigh answered him. “Hey, Ken.” Daisuke sounded as tired as Ken felt.

“On a scale of ‘ _ oh well, whatever _ ’ to ‘ _ fuck my life _ ’, how bad were you scolded?” He smiled when Daisuke snorted in response.

“‘ _ Take me back to the Digital World _ ’.” was his response. Ken hummed sympathetically. “I can tell you now, we won’t be havin’ a sleepover any time soon.”

“Oh… I see.” Ken couldn’t hide his disappointment, distracting himself with petting a sleeping Wormmon (who’d evolved after they ate lunch). “How long?”

“Three weeks, then ‘probation’.” He could  _ hear _ Daisuke rolling his eyes. He continued in a false sweet voice. “Which is totally fair compared to my sister who, last weekend, went out drinkin’ for a whole night, came home at eleven A.M. still drunk, and only had to do extra chores for two days.”

Ken tutted. “That’s bullshit. Think we can convince them to at least let me come over and ‘ _ tutor _ ’ you?” he joked. Daisuke laughed.

“Well, there’s no harm in tryin’, at least. Maybe not any time this week, though.”

“Fair. As long as you’re okay…”

“I’m fine. Thanks for lookin’ out for me, Ken.”

Ken smiled softly. “Any time. You’re always supporting me, I’m glad I can do the same for you.” 

They spoke for a little while longer but their exhaustion started catching up to them. Ken moved to his bed, careful not to wake Wormmon, and spoke with Daisuke until the other boy fell asleep. His heart ached with affection, hearing Daisuke snore softly.

“Good night, Dai,” he murmured. “I love you.”

With that, he hung up and pulled Wormmon close, drifting off with a smile.


End file.
